Safety products: Customer-ready outage intelligence

February 18, 2016

Safety products: DistribuTECH -- OMNETRIC Group has unveiled its customer-ready outage intelligence offering, first demoed in beta form at DistribuTECH 2015. The innovative offering, built on the Accenture Insights Platform, hosted on the Accenture Cloud Platform, integrates disparate data sources to enable the utilities industry to better prepare for severe weather events.

In a test scenario, OMNETRIC Group has calculated that the ability of utilities to anticipate, prevent and react faster to outages could lead to an annual saving of $2.96m[1]. This announcement comes in the wake of Winter Storm Jonas, which is estimated to have caused multi-billion dollar damage and disruption[2] across the US only last month, leaving millions of people and businesses without power.

OMNETRIC Outage Intelligence is a geospatial analytics tool for utilities to better prepare for such outages caused by poor weather conditions. Uniquely developed algorithms allow utilities to view severe weather information in the context of their own assets in the field, via a simple user interface. This vital insight enables predication, prevention and faster reaction times, leading to significant savings and a better customer experience.

Unrivalled insight OMNETRIC Outage Intelligence harnesses source data from the utility and data from external sources, including local weather information.

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The system uses this combined and bespoke data set to run scenario simulations using advanced analytics to identify failures and impacts on assets and operations. Recommendations for restoration planning and execution are then generated. All data generated by OMNETRIC Outage Intelligence is securely stored for post-event analysis.

Innovative user interface The offering is delivered with an easy-to-use user interface with geospatial visualization capabilities. Multi-layer viewing capability of the impacted area allows for customized viewing by control area, county, and zip code and the ability to zoom in and out. Status reports are generated in real-time allowing for responsive actions to be taken.

The power of preparation In addition to the headline cost saving of using this latest technology, OMNETRIC Outage Intelligence also brings a host of operational benefits, including the ability to:

· Better anticipate outages based on factual data and algorithms rather than monitored assets

· Understand where outages or damage may occur and take proactive measures

· Issue pre-advisory messages

· Coordinate resources and assets

· Easily reconstruct an entire outage event, including:

o Estimated impact

o Pre-storm plan

o Actual outage events and utility response

o Post-storm wrap-up and restoration to normal service

o Planned versus actual storm performance and cost

Wade Malcolm, North American CEO of OMNETRIC Group said: “Utilities are placing renewed emphasis on outage management. The cost of restoration delays is rising, consumer expectations are increasing, and recent severe weather events have raised regulatory scrutiny in many regions. To improve grid reliability and increase customer confidence, utilities know they have to make better use of outage related data. This will enable them to better anticipate and reduce outages, and react faster. We’re pleased to be bringing this most-needed offering to market as we respond to the needs of our customers worldwide.”

OMNETRIC Group has recently signed Austrian utility, KELAG, as the first charter client for the solution.

About OMNETRIC Group OMNETRIC Group OMNETRIC Group is dedicated to the global delivery of integrated information technology and operational technology solutions and services, helping utility companies to achieve greater grid reliability and efficiency. OMNETRIC Group is a joint venture between Siemens AG and Accenture. Combining Siemens’ leading energy technology product portfolio with Accenture’s systems integration, consulting and managed services capabilities, OMNETRIC Group can support clients with innovative solutions wherever they may be on their path to a smarter grid.